Anja Paerson woke up Sunday, learned that the final race of the season was delayed, and calculated what she needed to do to beat Janica Kostelic for her second consecutive overall World Cup title.
She couldn't have possibly calculated this: the Swede won with the smallest margin of victory -- three points -- since skiing's current point system was introduced 13 years ago. She also tied the smallest margin in the 38-season history of the World Cup, courtesy of a 0.09-second time differential.
In fact, the battle between the two top female skiers came down to the final racer of the season-ending giant slalom, Paerson's specialty.
PHOTO: EPA
In the final men's race of the season, Mario Matt won a slalom for his first victory in more than four years. Benjamin Raich had already clinched the season's slalom title.
After all the racing was complete, Bode Miller finally received his overall trophy -- which was sealed up on Saturday -- becoming the first American overall winner in 22 years.
Paerson began Sunday with a 35-point lead over Kostelic in the overall standings, and she would have automatically won the title by finishing ahead of the Croat.
The Swede seemed on track for the title in the opening leg, finishing ahead of Kostelic, but things got tricky for Paerson in the second run.
Kostelic was fourth after her run. Paerson, running next, was uncharacteristically slow, finishing just within the points in 13th place with four racers to go.
Kostelic could have secured the title by finishing seventh or higher as long Paerson fell out of the top 15, the only positions to score points at World Cup finals.
With one skier left, Kostelic was sitting seventh and Paerson was already out of the top 15. But Maria Jose Rienda Contreras of Spain delivered a sizzling final run -- overcoming a mistake where she went wide -- to win the race and give Paerson the overall title by bumping Kostelic to eighth. Paerson ended up 17th.
The difference between Kostelic and the seventh-place finisher, Martina Ertl of Germany, was 0.09 seconds.
"It comes down to a few hundredths every time and I don't think that's going to change for the next few years," Paerson said of her rivalry with Kostelic.
Paerson finished the season with 1,359 overall points, followed by Kostelic with 1,356.
"We both are the same age [23]. We started almost at the same time on the World Cup. So many things are alike -- my father and her father," Paerson said, since both skiers are coached by their fathers. "Today we showed how tight and good we are."
Kostelic, who entered the finals 63 points behind Paerson, said her "problem was coming into the final with too few points."
"I'm happy with second place because last year I wasn't even skiing. I wasn't disappointed. I was happy for Anja," Kostelic said. "I had a great world championships. I had a good season and I can't complain."
Paerson also took last year's overall globe in the absence of Kostelic, who missed the entire season due to illness and injury.
Matti Hautamaki of Finland won his fifth straight World Cup ski jump competition Sunday, finishing nearly 10 points ahead of runner-up Bjorn Einar Romoren on Holmenkollen's large hill.
Hautamaki had two consistent rides of 127.5m and 128m for 281.4 points. Romoren, jumping before his home fans, hit 124m and 128m for 272.1 points.
Two people died on Thursday after fans and police clashed outside the Estadio Monumental in Santiago ahead of a game in South America’s Copa Libertadores, Chilean authorities said. The fatalities happened shortly before the match between Chile’s Colo-Colo and Brazilian club Fortaleza, when police blocked about 100 fans when they attempted to enter the stadium. There were conflicting accounts of how the fatalities occurred, with local media reporting that one of the dead was a 13-year-old boy. The other victim was an 18-year-old woman, according to a relative at the hospital where she was treated. The fans died after being caught underneath a
A potential European league could be a gold mine for the NBA as the top-flight North American league looks to muscle its way into a deep pool of talent across the Atlantic Ocean. The NBA is exploring the launch of a European league with world basketball governing body FIBA as a partner, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last week, with an eye toward a 16-team format made up of 12 permanent clubs and four qualifiers. The continent’s longstanding Euroleague quickly signaled its readiness to enter into talks with the NBA, even as it has balked at the idea of another league in
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen (陳凱玲) has become the first player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after being selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the third and final round of the league's draft yesterday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship on April 6. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament's most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as a
RSS